Tesco shares slid more than 15 per cent today after it revealed its Big Price Drop campaign had failed to pull in enough customers over Christmas.

It said the 2.3 per cent decline in like-for-like sales excluding VAT and petrol in the six weeks to January 7 was below its own expectations and "disappointing".

Investors were shocked by the update, sending its shares 60.1p lower to 325.1p, although the wider London market held firm as the FTSE 100 Index stood just 1.8 points lower at 5668.7.

Other supermarkets were affected by the gloomy Tesco news and even though Sainsbury's and Morrisons have already posted resilient updates shares in the pair were down by 15.35p at 286.7p and 20.7p at 283.25p respectively.

Among other fallers, B&Q owner Kingfisher dropped 5.25p to 250.25p after rival Home Retail Group, which trades as Homebase and Argos, announced plans to cut its dividend in the wake of more poor sales. Home Retail shares were 3.35p lower at 83.9p, making it the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 Index.

Back in the top flight, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland rose 7 per cent or 1.5p to 23.3p after it announced plans to restructure its investment banking operation in a move set to cost around 3,500 jobs.

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